Results of the 15Th Victoria Mile (G1)
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FROM: Junichi Takada General Manager, Media & Publicity Department, THE JAPAN RACING ASSOCIATION (JRA) DATE: May 17, 2020 SUBJECT: RESULTS OF THE 15TH VICTORIA MILE (G1) In accordance with the restructuring of JRA racing program for fillies/mares executed in the 2006 season, the Victoria Mile was established to give the older fillies/mares a stage to prove their ability among their own sex, in addition to the Queen Elizabeth II Cup, which had been the only G1 reserved for older fillies/mares. While the Queen Elizabeth is run over 2,200 meters and held in mid-November, the Victoria Mile is held in spring and provides female milers a chance to claim a G1 title without having a tough competition in a mixed field. The race, however, attracts not only fillies/mares suited to the mile distance but also outstanding runners from the middle-long distance group. Past victors include two-time Horse of the Year winner Vodka (JPN, by Tanino Gimlet; ’09), 2010 Horse of the Year Buena Vista (JPN, by Special Week; ’10) and 2010 fillies’ Triple Crown winner Apapane (JPN, by King Kamehameha; ’11). Meanwhile, both Verxina (JPN, by Deep Impact) and Straight Girl (JPN, by Fuji Kiseki) claimed consecutive Victoria Mile titles in 2013-14 and 2015-16, respectively. The top three finishers will earn automatic starting positions in the French G1 Prix Jacques le Marois (1,600m) where not only will they be exempted from paying registration fee but will be given a total of €20,000 as a transportation subsidy. The race also joined the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series this year, enabling its winner to earn automatic starting position in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1, 1,900m). Defending champion Normcore came off a 15th in her first sprint start, the Takamatsunomiya Kinen (G1, 1,200m; Mar.29) while 2018 Horse of the Year Almond Eye and last year’s Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks, G1, 2,400m) victor Loves Only You commenced their 2020 season with this race instead of the Dubai World Cup meeting, which was cancelled due to COVID-19. Sound Chiara registered her third consecutive graded title in the main prep for the Victoria Mile, the Hanshin Himba Stakes (G2, 1,600m; Apr.11), where Scarlet Color, Dimension, Beach Samba and 2018 Best Two-Year-Old Filly Danon Fantasy were among the top five, finishing behind the winner in this order. The field also included Contra Check, 2019 Turquoise Stakes (G3, 1,600m) winner, who finished 16th in the Nakayama Himba Stakes (G3, 1,800m; Mar.14), and last year’s runner-up Primo Scene who came off a fifth in the Lord Derby Challenge Trophy (G3, 1,600m; Apr.4). THE 15TH VICTORIA MILE (G1) 4-year-olds & up, Fillies & Mares, 1,600 meters (about 8 furlongs), turf, left-handed Sunday, May 17, 2020 Tokyo Racecourse 11th Race Post time: 15:40 Total prize money: ¥ 226,800,000 (about US$ 2,100,000 <US$1=¥108>) 4-y-o & up: 55kg (about 121 lbs), 1kg allowance for Southern Hemisphere-bred born in 2016 Course Record: 1:30.5 Race Record: 1:30.5 [Normcore (JPN, by Harbinger), 2019] Safety factor: 18 runners Going: Firm Weather: Fine S&A Sire Owner Horse Odds Margin FP BK PP Color Dam Breeder Jockey Wgt (Fav) (L3F) (Dam’s Sire) Trainer M5 Lord Kanaloa Silk Racing Co., Ltd. Almond Eye (JPN) 1.4 1:30.6 1 6 12 b. Fusaichi Pandora Northern Racing Christophe Lemaire 55.0 (1) (32.9) (Sunday Silence) Sakae Kunieda M5 Deep Impact Yuichi Masuda Sound Chiara (JPN) 12.9 4 2 8 18 b. Sound Barrier Yuichi Masuda Kohei Matsuyama 55.0 (4) (33.8) (Agnes Digital) Akio Adachi M5 Harbinger Seiichi Iketani Normcore (JPN) 17.4 Neck 3 8 16 g. Chronologist Northern Racing Norihiro Yokoyama 55.0 (5) (33.2) (Kurofune) Kiyoshi Hagiwara M5 Lord Kanaloa Shadai Race Horse Co., Ltd. Trois Etoiles (JPN) 123.8 1/2 4 7 13 b. Secondo Piatto Shadai Farm Kosei Miura 55.0 (12) (34.7) (Heart's Cry) Takayuki Yasuda F4 Deep Impact Danox Co., Ltd. Danon Fantasy (JPN) 18.4 1/2 5 4 7 b. Life For Sale Northern Racing Yuga Kawada 55.0 (6) (33.5) (Not For Sale) Mitsumasa Nakauchida F4 Daiwa Major S.Morinaka Shigeru Pink Dia (JPN) 100.6 3/4 6 2 4 d.b. Moonlight Bay Amaba Bokujo Ryuji Wada 55.0 (11) (33.2) (High Chaparral) Kunihiko Watanabe F4 Deep Impact DMM Dream Club Co., Ltd. Loves Only You (JPN) 9.5 1 7 1 1 b. Loves Only Me Northern Farm Mirco Demuro 55.0 (3) (33.5) (Storm Cat) Yoshito Yahagi M5 Deep Impact Silk Racing Co., Ltd. Primo Scene (JPN) 7.5 1-1/4 8 3 5 br. Mosheen Northern Racing Damian Lane 55.0 (2) (33.4) (Fastnet Rock) Tetsuya Kimura F4 Kurofune Kaneko Makoto Holdings Co., Ltd. Beach Samba (JPN) 38.1 Neck 9 1 2 d.b. Fusaichi Airedale Northern Racing Yuichi Fukunaga 55.0 (9) (33.4) (Sunday Silence) Yasuo Tomomichi F4 Heart's Cry Three H Racing Co., Ltd. Shadow Diva (JPN) 86.0 1-1/2 10 2 3 d.b. Diamond Diva Northern Racing Kenichi Ikezoe 55.0 (10) (33.4) (Dansili) Makoto Saito M5 Deep Impact Sunday Racing Co., Ltd. Arusha (JPN) 288.4 1/2 11 7 15 g. Zazu Northern Racing Hiroshi Kitamura 55.0 (15) (33.2) (Tapit) Kazuo Fujisawa M5 Deep Impact Takaya Shimakawa Tosen Bless (JPN) 223.0 Nose 12 3 6 d.b. Bloomin' Bar Yukihiro Moroe Takuya Ono 55.0 (13) (33.3) (Falbrav) Yukihiro Kato M5 Deep Impact Satomi Horse Company Co., Ltd. Satono Garnet (JPN) 293.1 Neck 13 6 11 d.b. Beatrix Kiddo Oiwake Farm Yutaka Yoshida 55.0 (16) (33.5) (Victory Note) Yoshito Yahagi F4 Deep Impact U. Carrot Farm Contra Check (JPN) 31.9 Head 14 8 17 d.b. Rich Dancer Northern Racing Yutaka Take 55.0 (8) (35.4) (Halling) Kazuo Fujisawa M5 Victoire Pisa Koji Maeda Scarlet Color (JPN) 21.0 2-1/2 15 7 14 b. Ventus North Hills Co,. Ltd. Shu Ishibashi 55.0 (7) (34.5) (War Emblem) Ryo Takahashi M5 Lord Kanaloa Suzuko Ota Megere Su (JPN) 280.0 3 16 5 10 b. Asian Winds Ms Suzuko Ota Yoshitsugu Okada 55.0 (14) (35.6) (Fuji Kiseki) Hideaki Fujiwara M6 Deep Impact Hiroo Race Dimension (JPN) 4 8 b. Scratched Miss Pemberley PANGLOSS Y.K. Toshihiro Hirosaki et al. Daisaku Matsuda 55.0 (Montjeu) Hideaki Fujiwara F4 Orfevre Teruya Yoshida Therapeia (JPN) 5 9 g. Scratched Laragh Shadai Farm Hironobu Tanabe 55.0 (Tapit) Kenichi Fujioka FP: Final Position / BK: Bracket Number / PP: Post Position / S&A: Sex & Age / Wgt: Weight (kg) / L3F: Time of Last 3 Furlongs (600m) Color: b.=bay / bl.=black / br.=brown / ch.=chestnut / d.b.=dark bay / d.ch.=dark chestnut / g.=gray / w.=white NOTE 1: No Foreign Contenders NOTE 2: Figures quoted under Odds are shown in form of decimal odds (single unit is ¥100), and Fav indicates the order of favorites. Turnover for the Race alone: ¥ 15,902,841,300 Turnover for the Day: ¥ 24,862,607,600 Pay-off (for ¥100) Win No.12 ¥ 140 Bracket Quinella 6-8 ¥ 390 Quinella 12-18 ¥ 750 No.12 ¥ 110 12-18 ¥ 390 Exacta 12-18 ¥ 950 Place No.18 ¥ 220 Quinella Place 12-16 ¥ 530 Trio 12-16-18 ¥ 2,960 No.16 ¥ 300 16-18 ¥ 1,530 Trifecta 12-18-16 ¥ 7,340 Winner= 12 starts, 9 wins, 1 second, 1 third / Added money: ¥ 108,822,000 / Career earnings: ¥ 1,406,633,900 Almond Eye Claims This Year’s Victoria Mile to Register Record-Tying 7th G1 Title Overwhelming race favorite Almond Eye claimed this year’s Victoria Mile in 1:30.6, only 0.1 second off the track record. This race was her first start after returning from the UAE for the intended start in the Dubai Turf to defend her title. Capturing the fillies’ Triple Crown—the Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas, 1,600m), the Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks, 2,400m) and the Shuka Sho (2,000m)—and the Japan Cup title in her three- year-old season, and the Dubai Turf (1,800m) and the Tenno Sho (Autumn) (2,000m) last year, this win marks her record-tying 7th turf G1 title along with Symboli Rudolf, T.M. Opera O, Deep Impact, Vodka, Gentildonna and Kitasan Black. Trainer Sakae Kunieda claimed his 17th JRA-G1 title following last year’s Tenno Sho (Autumn), which he won with this horse, and jockey Christophe Lemaire won his memorable 30th JRA-G1 title following his Tenno Sho (Spring) victory with Fierement two weeks earlier. Five-year-old Almond Eye broke smoothly and settled in good position around sixth from the pacesetter, Trois Etoiles, who set a rapid pace. Chasing Sound Chiara through most of the trip, the Lord Kanaloa mare edged forward turning the corners, entered the lane fourth from the front and dislodged an admiringly powerful drive through the homestretch, easily overtaking the front horses by the 200-meter pole and further accelerating for a four-length victory. “I think she’s matured well, as she was relaxed from the paddock to the start of the race. I was able to position her in good position behind Sound Chiara and race her in her own rhythm without getting any pressure from the outside. She felt good during the race and displayed her powerful strides at the end.